Divergence
-May 2186
"Attention!" The midshipman shouted. "Commanding Officer on deck."
Usually the presence of the CO on deck was nothing spectacular, and Hannah Shepard had forgone most formalities if possible. But she knew that Admiral Mikhailovich loved formalities, and as the new CO of the Orizaba, and now the leader of Alpha wing of the Second fleet, he was entitled to his proclivities.
Hannah offered her salute, which Mikhailovich savored for a moment before replying.
"Sir, I relinquish command of the Orizaba."
"I accept command, Rear Admiral." Mikhailovich shook her hand. "It's been a while. Congratulations on your promotion."
"Thank you, sir."
The two headed down deck, trailed by her XO and a few other staff, which Mikhailovich impatiently waved away as they entered the CO's cabin. Mikhailovich's aide hurried forward and poured out a few refreshments, set up the briefing pads before becoming scarce.
"I regret to say that your daughter's inquisition is not proceeding very well."
"Sir." Hannah had no wish to share personal matters with Mikhailovich. Their tour together as CO and XO had not been the most fondest of her memories.
"Normally she would have been set up for a full court-martial, dishonorably discharged." Mikhailovich continued, smugly. "But Hackett and Hayes both seem to have overextended themselves trying to exonerate her. The Council has been bargaining for her to sign her own resignation, honors in tact. I would advise her to do so. As your mother, you should advise her to do so."
"She is her own person, Admiral." Hannah replied stiffly.
"Yes." Mikhailovich sneered. "Hackett seems to have forgotten his place. I advised the Council, as a member of the defense board, to send the Fifth to bolster our defenses along the Skyllian verge. But Hackett was adamant that every fleet maintain jumping distance to Earth and Arcturus. The man is convinced that an attack on Earth is imminent. Utter nonsense. We are a Council Race. I think he's just acting to undermine my position on the defense council."
"Sir." she stiffly replied.
"Your assignment seems to take you away from the Second, at last." Mikhailovich finally gave up on goading her.
"I petitioned to return to my scientific research." Hannah explained.
"Admirable," Mikhailovich smiled. "Command is not always cut out for everyone."
Hannah made her way down to the shuttle bay. The new Kodiak awaiting her would take her to a service transport frigate that was heading out to the Citadel. Although her designation was reverted to research, she had actually been signed on to a transfer waiting list by Command. Allegations concerning her daughter had eventually bled onto her, and the Personnel Command had difficulty deciding what to do with her. Hannah would usually have gone to Hayes for help, but the Admiral somehow left the impression that she was avoiding her since her reunion with her daughter. Perhaps Hayes was trying to save her own neck. Hannah recalled how she had shouted at Hayes, but having since recovered much of her relationship with her daughter Hannah felt little regret in taking a step back. She had to admit, after finding peace with Messalina in the brig of the Everest, she felt deflated, like the wind had been taken out of her. Every day since then felt like a chore to go through.
The Kodiak shuttle, to her surprise was not designated with any ship insignia, but rather bore the flag of her own person. Hannah gave a wry smile at the meaning. She had seen admirals with private shuttles before, but having been commander of a dreadnought for a few years, it seemed small. She could see where this was going. She'd be allotted an alliance liaison office off the citadel, and with all practicality this Kodiak before her would be the only vessel she would be commanding.
A young flight lieutenant was waiting for her, snapping into a salute.
"Lieutenant Milque, ma'am." The young man shook her hand warmly. "I'll be your aide, driver, guard and all around man-Friday."
The Kodiak had been refurnished to ferry a flag officer, the seats were dark leather surrounded by a VI interface that she assumed would be connected with Avina once they settled down into her office at the Citadel.
"So much for research." She muttered as she seated herself.
"Sorry, ma'am?" Milque was a thin young man, small, yet remarkably wiry. The resemblance of his physique with her daughter prompted her mind to flag him as not some standard aide de camp.
"You're an Infiltrator." Hannah studied the young man as he casually started up the Kodiak.
"I've left the Special Forces, ma'am. Now I'm just a pilot." He shrugged without turning.
Hannah skimmed over his files from the VI terminal. "Delta squadron."
"Yes, ma'am." He replied, cheerfully without offering more. The shuttle rumbled dangerously. "Sorry about that. Inertial dampers switching on; you can sit back now."
As the Kodiak lifted from the hangar it breezed into a comfortable low muffled movement. Hannah looked out her window as they left the Orizaba's hangar without so much as a fanfare from her crew of five years.
"So, who'd you f*** up to be assigned to me, Milque?" Hannah asked.
"What do you mean, ma'am? I volunteered to be your pilot." Milque replied. "My squad leader used to be pretty much in love with everything Shepard."
"Yeah, wrong Shepard, junior." Hannah relaxed back, closing her eyes. Saying that Hayes had been distant had been a gross understatement. The rumors leaking from HQ told her Messalina was not faring well. The committee that oversaw her trial proceeded from Investigator to Investigator, drilling her for more. It had stretched too long. What should have been a standard inquiry neither terminated with satisfactory results, nor blew up into a larger investigation; they were stalling.
At the bequest of Messalina, Hannah had refrained from contacting either Anderson or Hackett about it. She had said it was all under control. That was a strange way to put it. Hannah had learned that Messalina had been placed under heavy guard. Liara had not been able to contact her, and she had further informed the elder Shepard that Messalina had been completely isolated and denied access of any kind. How the young Asari would know such things was beyond her, but Liara had oft proved astoundingly resourceful for a professor on sabbatical.
Hayes had refused to see her immediately following her meeting with Messalina, going so far as to confine herself in her office until Hannah was off the Everest. Subsequent standard group leader briefing were also curtailed until the Orizaba and her patrol group were ordered to patrol the Widow Nebula until further notice. And as soon as Hannah had attained flag rank, she was immediately transferred off Second fleet.
Hannah never questioned her orders. While usually she would have caused a stir, something had changed in her, that now she actually wished some more peace and quiet. Despite her career making a left turn, she was oddly satisfied and grateful for the breather. Considering her anxiety over the loss and rumored return of her daughter, Hannah figured the inner peace came from knowing that her daughter was safe. Despite being under heavy lock up, at least Messalina wouldn't be able to hurt herself.
"I'm not sure what we'll be doing on the Citadel, Admiral." They cleared the barrier field of the dreadnought as they sped toward the large carrier off in the distance. Milque turned around only to find Hannah had fallen asleep.
"That's unfortunate." Hackett rubbed the thick scar that ran across his face. In this day and age, he could have easily had it removed. But the man was all about presence. The tightly knit Fifth fleet was renown for its own fanaticism toward their admiral, something Emily Hayes seemed to be missing in recent years. The Second had always been like family, but with the events following the Geth War, it had been itching for a piece of action that the Fifth fleet had monopolized. Discontent among the Captains had been brewing as news of Commander Shepard's resurrection drove everyone to think that maybe they weren't fighting the right fight.
Hackett had easily aligned himself with Commander Shepard's agenda, appearing frequently on the vids to promote more and more young men and women to enlist. Despite outcries against him that he was steering the Alliance to war mongering, he had remained steadfast.
Emily Hayes glared at her Fifth fleet counterpart across the screen. She knew his reasons, although it was difficult to wrap her head around the idea.
"You still think that a fleet of robot warships are going to invade from the beyond?"
"I'm surprised that you're not convinced." Hackett was always solemn.
The Citadel had officially proclaimed that it had been the Geth. The fact also colluded with Messalina's later reports that so-called 'Heretic' Geth branch had splintered from the main Geth hive and had instigated the attack. It was foolish of Messalina to incorporate the Collector activity and try to associate it with the Geth incursions.
Despite Hackett's support of Messalina's ramblings, Hayes suspected that Hackett was actually trying to expand human colonization deep into Batarian territory. The mission that Hackett had sent Messalina to deep in Batarian space served only to show where the man's ambitions pointed to.
"If you're thinking of playing this act to recuperate your losses from the Geth fleet three years ago-"
"I am not trying to rally humanity to War, Admiral." Hackett interrupted her impatiently. "The Reaper threat is real."
"Reapers..." Hayes shook her head. The name itself was ridiculous. "Steven, we've known each other a long time, now. We haven't exactly seen eye to eye, but I deserve the truth from you."
"I am giving you the truth, Emily." Hackett replied. "Everything's in Commander Shepard's report. Virmire, Ilos, Omega, Horizon, Bahak."
"The Citadel-"
"The Citadel is in denial." Hackett strained. "All they're concerned about, all they have been concerned about for the past two millennia, is to maintain status-quo."
"Terra-Firma-"
"It's not Terra Firma, Emily. I have David Anderson running around the Citadel, trying to convince other races to start building up. We have a threat beyond imagination knocking at our door steps. You haven't seen the damage one single Reaper could do to a fleet."
"I know what it did to yours, Steven." Emily shook her head, returning to subject, "I've sent Hannah away. I have enough 'Shepard' trouble as it is. Men and women of the Service are starting to ask questions."
"You can't silence the truth." Hackett maintained stubbornly.
"Stop being a Conspiracy Theorist, Steven! This is not about Cerbereus, this is not about the Citadel politics. It's just all about you and your damaged ego having lost half your fleet three years ago. Politically, by saving the Council you might have elevated humanity. But , every military strategist thinks you made the blunder of your life when you sacrificed firepower to save the Destiny Ascension. Command will probably keep you patrolling the Terminus systems until you retire. Be reasonable!"
"I want Captain Shepard under my command."
"Leave her alone, Hackett." Hayes warned him. "She's gone through enough. I've sent my recommendation to Personnel that she retire. She's done enough for the Alliance."
"You don't get to tell her that, Admiral." Hackett shrugged.
"I've seen how you used Messalina. I won't have you using her mother to chase windmills."
Hackett studied her silently, making her fidget. But whatever he wanted to say, he kept quiet and signed off. Hackett had been recruiting odd people from in and out of the Service. Hayes knew that he had gathered his once famous Delta squad for a private meeting before maneuvering the two surviving members to stand guard around the two Shepard women. It had seemed innocuous enough at first. James Vega had been a fine officer before he disappeared into the slums of Omega following the tragedy of Fehl Prime. Todd Milque had been a washed out man who seemed to refuse to hold a gun any more, before Hackett had him review his pilot license before he innocently attached the young man as an aide de camp for Hannah. Recently, Hayes had received information that Hackett had been brewing up sensation at the Mars archives by assigning the prominent archaeologist, Liara T'Soni to review top-secret information. David Anderson had curried a favor with the Asari Councilor and had managed to strong arm Intelligence into accepting the famous Prothean expert. There were rumors that Hackett was collecting loyal "Shepherds", as the conspiracy theorists called themselves, to a special task force.
Hayes had her own cards.
"I want Lieutenant Commander Williams in my room."
It was amusing to note that Ashley Williams held the position that Messalina had held four years ago, Commander of the Everest HQ marines. Ashley had just transferred from the Fifth following the incident on Horizon last year. Emily could see several similarities between the two young women, including service as an NCO, commission following a major victory, and coming from a military family. But Ashley Williams was the polar opposite of Messalina. Where Messalina was often called the 'ice queen', never mixing in with her troops, Ashley was the Big Sister of the marines. She was immediately on first names basis with everyone as soon as she came on board. She had a fiery temper and a down to earth easiness that invited everyone into her heart. While Messalina would fill her troop assessments with 'Satisfactory; requires gun range 2,000 shots', Ashley would file in lengthy reports about how one PFC seemed to have difficulty adjusting after first deployment and how she would like to have the PFC trail her on Amber level away missions. Both women commanded fierce loyalty from their marines, but while Messalina inspired them to follow her lead through example, Ashley would delve into their hearts with a sense of brotherhood. Hayes was quite surprised and far more than with the change of atmosphere down in the barracks, which had followed in the footsteps of Messalina's rigid discipline since her transfer to the Normandy.
"Wanted to see me, ma'am?" Ashley presented her self.
"Take a seat, Ash." Hayes nodded with a smile. "How's the leg?"
Ashley laughed. "Just a scrape, ma'am. Thanks for noticing, though. Doctor Inez patched me up well, though I won't be wearing anything short and revealing for a while."
"That sucks." Hayes smiled. She enjoyed Ashley's company. "Damn thing, with shore leave coming up. Planning on anything special?"
"I'm actually going to see my niece for the first time." Ashley replied. "My sister Sarah's just had a baby."
"Oh! Congratulations." Hayes racked her memory. "Sarah's the one married to a Marine, right?"
"Uh-huh," Ashley was pleased that Hayes remembered this. "Thomas is stationed on Demeter. Introduced the two of them after the whole Geth invasion."
"Nice of you to mention the Geth, Ashley. I wanted to talk about that."
"Uh-oh." Ashley straightened up in her seat.
"Don't worry, Ash. I won't bite." Hayes chuckled. "You've served with Commander Shepard when the Geth attacked the Citadel, right?"
"Yes, ma'am. I joined the Normandy when Shepard was investigating the Prothean Beacon on Eden Prime."
"How would you describe the Commander?"
Ashley paused, collecting her thoughts. Her men always asked about Shepard. She would talk about their adventures together, and the men were all suckers for that. It always brought back good memories of the time on the Normandy, but always stopped short after the incident above Alchera.
"She was a great leader, ma'am." Ashley replied, fairly. "We've had our differences, but I respect her immensely."
"You two haven't had the best of relationships, I see." Hayes inquired.
"We had a rough start." Ashley admitted, "But we've resolved our differences."
"I've known Mess all her life, and she's definitely not a softy. I'm surprise you've been able to get along with her."
"What's up, ma'am. Why are you really asking me about Shepard?"
"Those reports about ... Reapers." Hayes let the dogs out, sitting forward, stapling her hands.
"I am ordered to reply," Ashley said hesitantly, "that there is no such thing, ma'am."
"I'm a fleet admiral, Ashley." Hayes smiled, but not with her eyes. "I've read the unabridged reports."
"Well, ma'am, I'm not sure." Ashley gave up. "I've been on Virmire, ma'am. The Council had asked us to extract an STG group investigating after Saren. I wasn't with Shepard when she encountered the machine sentience 'Sovereign'. Wrex, the Krogan mercenary, and Doctor T'Soni usually accompanied her when she needed a strike team. I was assigned to lead Aeghor team of the Salarian STG strike team, while the Turian, who usually doubled for Shepard, had taken the Quarian mechanic for tactical support for Mannovai Team. We didn't encounter any machine sentience, AI or VI, ma'am."
"You weren't with her on Ilos?"
"Again," Ashley still seemed a bit disgruntled about her experience on the Normandy. "the Commander was accompanied by Doctor T'Soni and the Turian."
"This was after Lieutenant Alenko's death?"
"Yes, ma'am." Ashley looked away. "Lieutenant Alenko was guarding the nuke. Shepard ordered him to set it off."
"What happened?"
Ashley seemed to struggle with the memory. "Geth stormed him, ma'am." she replied tersely.
Hayes quickly changed the subject. "So, you can't confirm whether Saren was being controlled by the Reapers or not?"
"Saren was being controlled by the Reapers, ma'am." Ashley nodded affirmatively.
"But you have no proof." Hayes noted.
"No, I haven't." Ashley sighed. She had been through this several times. Especially following the Battle of the Citadel.
"After the Battle, Shepard asked you to join her search for these... Reapers."
"Doctor T'Soni and Shepard came up with an idea that with Dark space devoid of Eezo, the Reapers would need heavy supplies of Eezo once they come storming through the Mass Relays. T'Soni suggested the Alchera system which had untapped amount of waste Eezo."
"But you weren't convinced-"
"I was convinced, ma'am. I still am convinced that the Reapers are out there." Ashley flared up for a second before catching herself. "I still think they're out there."
"But you're not convinced Shepard's on the right track."
"The Alchera system was a dud. Then Shepard went AWOL, only to turn up two years later alive and well, working for Cerberus, claiming that the Collectors were pawns of the Reapers."
"Sounds a bit far fetched." Hayes shrugged.
"I mean, really?" Ashley agreed. "She goes missing, turns up without a scratch. Works for Cerberus, and expects me to fall in line with her against another goose chase. The Collectors are organics. I've seen them on Horizon. They're nothing like the Reapers."
Hayes nodded, satisfied with what she heard.
"I have a special mission for you, Ash."